Artie Martin Transcript
Transcribed by Janay Crabtree 

SL Okay I'm going to have these on for just a second just to make sure we're getting stuff that we want.  Oh yeah.  Umm... Okay, now let me just do some recording stuff.  Umm... Sonja D(PI) is the interviewer.  Today is November 21, 2003, we're at the Best Western  in Roswell, GA and we have three speakers, err two, two speakers that we're interviewing.  We're interviewing Gail D(PI) and Mrs. Artie D(PI) and umm there's a third person in the room.  A we have Mr. D(PI) who'll be here for a second, for a third interview of the day.  Okay, umm and I found out that the speak... that the interviewees don't have the demographic sheet completed and so we'll go through this as usual and get this back to them later to complete.  Alright, can you tell me your name.

AM  Artie

SL  Your full name

AM  Artie B. D(PI)

SL  Okay, can you tell me how old you are?

AM  Uh, gosh I can't remember.

SL  You don't remember your age?

AM  No I'm trying to remember.

SL  Do you try to forget?

AM  Uh, yeah, but let me see.

GB  You just had a birthday

AM  Huh?

GB  You just had a birthday not long ago.  And you, we had a big birthday party at the, uh, church.  How old were you then?  Eighty-nine or ninety?

AM  [laughter], I wasn't either one.

GB  Okay, well tell me how old you were then?

AM  Eighty... honey I can't think grace.

GB  I believe we celebrated it's your ninetieth birthday.

AM  No I wasn’t either.

GB  Oh, okay.

SL  You think you're younger or older?

AM  And I wouldn't celebrate my ninetieth birthday in eighty-nine either.

GB  Okay, so that makes you about what, eighty-six?  You remember what year you were born?  What year were you born?

AM  Huh?

GB  What year were you born?

AM  1913.

GB  1913?

SL  Unh-uh.

GB  Oh, okay, alright then, so that make you a nice young age.

AM  Yeah.

GB  Um-hmm.

SL  Alright, 1913.  And you are a lovely young woman then and how do you describe yourself in terms of your color?

AM  I do what?

SL  Your color?  Do you say you're, would you say you're black, or would you say you're negro or would you way your African-American, or how do you describe yourself?

AM  I don' know half you said.

GB  Okay, would you say you are a black woman, a negro woman or an African-American woman?

SL  What do you, what term do you prefer to use?

AM  I... I don' know.  He he he...  What am I African?

GB  An African-American, a negro, or a black woman?

AM  I'm black.

GB  Okay then, you consider yourself a black woman.  You like to be called a black woman.  Alright.

AM  So I have to be called a black woman?

GB  Is that what you like to be called, a black woman?

AM  I want to be called by my name.

GB  Oh, you like to be called Artie Martin.

AM  Yeah.

GB  Okay, gotcha.

SL  Alright, umm, tell me about your education.  All the education you've had.

AM  I don't have very much.

GB  Okay, what grade did you go to?

AM  That's what I'm thinking about now.  I just... entered, or fact I didn't go into the fourth grade.  I was going to go but I didn't get to go.

GB  Okay.

SL  Oh, I think that's the same, that's the same for my grandmother.  She went to third grade and then she was going to go but she didn't to the fourth.  Uhh... what school was that?

AM  Hmm?

SL  What school was that that you went to?

AM  What school I went to?  In Alabama, I was, I was in the country, Opelika Alabama.

SL  Oh, that's how they say that?

AM  Huh?

SL  Opelika?  I always that was Opelaka.  But it's Opelika.

AM  Opelika, Alabama.

SL  We pass through there when we're on our way to Louisiana.  Opelika.  Alright, now I know.

AM  That, I was, I was raised so out in the country.

SL  Uh huh.

AM  Uh huh.

SL  Okay, so you are from Alabama.

AM  Uh huh.

SL  So when did you move to Roswell?

AM  Lord... how long?  You know you, uh, heh, isn’t it... I know it well and I know my name but right now I can't remember it.

SL  Do you know how old you were?

GB  When you left Alabama did you go to Noonan or did you come on to Roswell?

AM  When I left Alabama?

GB  Uh huh, where did you move when you left Alabama?

AM  I come to Roswell.

GB  You came to Roswell then.  How old were you?

AM  I don't know... you know I can't, since I had that spell I can't remember like I used to?

GB  [said at the same time] Like you used to.

GB  Okay, were you a teenager?

AM  No.

GB  Okay, was I born yet?

AM  You were, who?

GB  Was I born yet when you moved to Roswell?

AM  Lessee, were you bon?

GB  Uh huh.

AM  I...

GB  You know, I'm a little young girl so I probably wasn't.

AM  He he he... I'm trying to think, get myself together.  Jenny had two kids, that was a boy Pat

GB  Uh huh, see I wasn’t born yet.  So that's narrowing it down.  Uh, Leroy?  Was he born, do you remember if he was born?

AM  Uh huh.

GB  Leroy was born.

AM  Uh huh.

GB  Okay.

LG  So that's before '47.

AM  You, you... huh?

LG  Before '47.

GB  Before 1947 you were born?

LG  ....

AM  I... now since I had that spell I can't remember all this stuff.

GB  But that's okay, you don't have to have a date, we kind of narrowed it down.

SL  Okay.  Uhh... what types of jobs have you had?

AM  What?

SL  What types of jobs, what kind of work have you done before?

AM  What kind of work have I ever done?

SL  Yeah, what kind of work have you done?  You don't work now I'm assuming?

AM  He he he.

SL  You're kind of relaxing now, so I'm assuming.

AM  I'm trying to think.  I have this... I'm raised to work, I work, I mean I worked in the country on the farm.  Heap of 'them laugh at me but I'm an old country girl.

SL  He he he.

AM  I worked on the farm, I was raised on the farm in Alabama.

SL  Um hmm... what kind of farming stuff do you like doing?  Like, what kind of farming stuff do you like to do?

AM  What kind of farming?

SL  Yeah, what kind of farming stuff?

AM  My... I... it's just like I tell you I can't remember like I used to?

GB  What type of work did you do when you came to Roswell?

AM  When I came to Roswell I done, I don't know what y'all call it but I call it maid work.  'Cause I'd stick... come here with some white people.

GB  Okay.

AM  And I'd work stay with them.

GB  You remember what their name was?

AM  Yeah... uh... lord mercy.  I tell you, I tell you it can this thing.

SL  Okay.

AM  Uhh... what was their name.  I can't, I can't think right now, but I can tell you later.

GB  Okay, so after you did the maid work what else did you do?

AM  Huh?

GB  After you did the maid work what else did you do?

AM  After I done maid work... I didn't... I don't know.

GB  Did you work in a school cafeteria.

AM  Let me think, I can't think fast.  I done... yeah, yeah... I did, I worked at D(PI) and uh... now I can' think where it was but it was...

GB  In Sandy Springs?

AM  Yeah, in Sandy Springs.  D(PI).

GB  Did you retire from there?

AM  I think... yeah I believe I did... I'm trying to think.  We had moved to Roswell...

GB  Uh huh

AM  This school had.

GB  Uh huh.

AM  And that's why I retired from Roswell.

GB  Oh, okay.

SL  Okay.

AM  I worked a while in Roswell... it's the same school.

SL  Tell me about what it was like growing up on the farm.

AM  Huh?

SL  Tell me what it was like growing up on the farm.

AM  Oh it was just... I enjoyed it... it dignified me.

SL  Um hmm.

AM  Yeah, my mother died when I was a kid.  I don't, I kind of remember, but I don't... can't they just, you know, about her.  But my father married again and I was raised by a step-mother.  [silence 6 sec] And I had a younger sister.

SL  [silence 14 sec. *coughing*] Excuse me.

AM  I had four brother all that was older than I was.  And I was... my brothers were older than I was.  That's about all I can tell you.

GB  You didn't have any sisters?

AM  Unh-uh.

GB  No sisters?

AM  What did you say?

GB  You didn't have any sisters?

AM  I say I had one.

GB  Oh, one sister.

AM  Uh huh.

GB  Okay.

AM  And I had... later on through the years I had a step-sister.

GB  Um hmm.

AM  She was grown and I was a kid.

SL  What did you like so much about being on the farm though?

AM  Huh?

SL  What did you like so much about the farm, growing up on the farm?

AM  What'd I...

SL  You said you loved being on the farm.

AM  I raised on the farm.

SL  What did you love so much about the farm... farm life?

AM  [laughter] I remember... you, uh, I can't... my dad... was a farmer, I was raised on the farm and I remember... you know it's been so long an since I had that spell I can't think like I used to.

GB  What did you like to do?  Did you like to milk the cows, get the eggs, or?

AM  Wait, now it said did I do what?

GB  Did you milk cows, or feed the hogs, or?

AM  I remember all that.

GB  Okay, which one of them did you like to do best?

AM  I don' know.  Uh... I don' know, I tell you the truth.  I don' remember I like to do the best.

GB  Um hmm.

SL  Did you have other chores to do on the farm?

AM  Hmm?

SL  Did you have other chores to do on the farm?

AM  Honey... I can't tell you.... I can't remember like I would love to and I can't remember like I used to so just be honest with cha... I'm not sure.

SL  Where were you in the line-up with your brothers and sisters?  Were you the oldest or the youngest or in the middle?

AM  Was I de what?  Oldest sister.

SL  You were the oldest child?

AM  No, I had four brothers, all them was older than I was.

SL  Oh... okay.  And you're, you said...

AM  And I had one sister, she was younger than I was.

SL  Oh, okay.  Are any of your brothers and sisters still living?  You're the only one left?

AM  Um hmm...

SL  Oh...

AM  Sure is, and I thank God for that.

SL  Um hmm... Do you have any children?

AM  Unh uh.

SL  You don't have any children?  Really?  Did you ever marry?  Oh, and you didn't have any children.

AM  Unh uh, I don't have any children.  As I say... always say I don't have any bus children but I got plenty childrens.

SL Um hmm, um hmmm.

AM  Gail know that.

SL  Now did your, your brothers and sisters, they had children?

AM  Um hmm.

SL  Now do any..

AM  And they all gone... none of them living.

SL  Really?

AM  Nobody but me.  I often say to myself "Nobody but me Lord, but nobody but me."  He's been good to me though.

SL  That's interesting.  Huh?  Okay, so you're the last one of your family?

AM  My immediate family.

SL  Of your immediate family.  Oh, wow.  And your, how long ago was it, that your husband, your husband died too right?

AM  How long Mitchell been dead?

GB  Oh, Mitchell's been dead, Mitchell's probably been dead 'bout twenty years now hadn't he?

AM  Huh?

GB  Pretty close to twenty years now isn't it?

AM  Twenty?

GB  Uh huh?

AM  Unh uh.

GB  How long?

AM  I can't tell you exactly but I know it ain't...

GB  'Cause daddy... daddy's been uhh... deceased eleven years and I know he passed a long time before daddy passed.

AM  Yeah... how long he been passed?

GB  Eleven.

AM  Eleven.  I guess... I don' know honey, I can' think.

SL  Um hmm.

AM  But I do know he passed like you said, first.

GB  Um hmm.

SL  When you came to Roswell did you join umm one of the churches here?

AM  Did I what?

SL  Join one of the churches.

AM  When I first came to Roswell, um hmm.

SL  Which church did you join?

AM  The one I belongs to now, Zion.

SL  Really?  Okay.

AM  I never belonged to but one church since I been in Roswell.

SL  Uhh... now when you, were you already Baptist?

AM  Honey... well I already... I don' remember right now if I were already Baptist... yeah, I was already a Baptist, had joined a Baptist church when I was in Atlanta.

SL  When were you... wait, when were you... wait a second now, I need to know... what are all the places you've lived?

AM  Huh?

SL  What, what are all the places you've lived 'cause you were in, you grew up in Opelika...

AM  Out in the country.

SL  Alabama.

AM  Yeah.

SL  Then you were in?

AM  I come to Roswell.

SL  You were someplace else because you just mentioned Atlanta.  But you were, you lived other places besides Opelika and Roswell.  Where else have you lived?

AM  Where is the other... I believe... I believe I lived a while in Fairfax, Alabama.

SL  Okay, so Opelika...

AM  And that's the, now all the places I've ever lived?

GB  Did you live in Atlanta for a while? 

AM  Huh?

GB  Did you live in Atlanta for a while?

AM  I said Atlanta.

GB  Oh, okay.

SL  Yeah.

AM  I lived Atlanta and Roswell and I'm trying to think... I don't believe... I don' remember.

SL  So, Opelika, Fairfax, Atlanta and Roswell.  Now you mentioned Newnan.

GB  She didn't live in Newnan.  You didn't ever live in Newnan did you Aunt Artie?

AM  Unh uh.

SL  Okay, now what, what were you doing in Atlanta?

AM  Huh?

SL  What were you doing in Atlanta?

AM  What was I?

SL  You were in Atlanta before you came to Roswell?

AM  Uh huh.

SL  What, now why did you go to Atlanta?  You went to Atlanta from Fairfax?

AM  I come to Atlanta with some white people I's a working for.

SL  Uh huh.

AM  And I's... I can' hardly get myself together.  I remember..[silence 15 sec] 

SL  How did you end up with them?

AM  Now?

SL  How did you end up with them instead of being with your family?  You left your family?

AM  How did I end up with who?

SL  These white people you're talking about.

AM  No, they lived down there.

SL  In Alabama?

AM  Uh huh, and I went to work for them there and when they come to Georgia I came with 'them.

SL  Oh... I see.  Okay.  So, when did you start working, when did you, how old were you when you started working for them?  Do you remember?

AM  I don't know.  [laughter]...

SL  Okay, so before you had just been working on the farm with your dad.

AM  Um hmm...

SL  And then you decided you needed to get a job?

AM  No, my dad had passed.

SL  Ohh.... okay, okay.  So you're mom had died and then your dad died?

AM  My mother died when I was a... I guess this way they talk... I wasn't... I don' really really remember but I, you know, remember seeing her but I don' remember anything about her.  I was too young.

SL  Okay, and then your dad died...

AM  I was grown when my dad died.

SL  Oh, okay.  So then, how did you end up working for these white people then?

AM  What?

SL  You were working for the white people when you left your dad's house to get out on your own then?

AM  How old?

SL  No, what I'm saying is when you started working for the white people that's when you had sort of left your dad's house and were sort of on your own then?

AM  No, they lived down there near where I lived.

SL  Um hmm.

AM  And I went to work for 'them.  And I would go out every week and stay with my dad.

SL  Um hmm... excuse me.  So you were sort of a live-in housekeeper for the white, for these white people.  Ooooh... okay.  And then on the weekend you'd get to go home and stay with your dad.

AM  But I don't know where none of them is now.

SL  Okay, so when your dad died, then you just stayed with the white people all the time.

AM  What....

SL  No?

AM  When my dad died I was grown then.

SL  Were you already in Georgia when your dad died or were you still in Alabama?

AM  I was... I was here in Atlanta.

SL  Okay, okay, alright, so you had already left Alabama.  Okay.  Now, did any of your brothers or sisters come with you to Georgia?

AM  No, my sister who's younger than me, and she was working' for some white peoples and she come here before I did to Atlanta.

SL  Ohh... okay.

AM  And she told them she was coming' back home 'cause she didn't know nobody in Atlanta.  And so they got me a job in Atlanta with some friends of theirs.

SL  Oooh...

AM  That's how I come to Atlanta.

SL  So then she stayed.

AM  Um hmm.

SL  Okay, 'cause you came.  Alright, okay, so then when you came to Roswell did she come too?

AM  Unh uh...[silence 7 sec]

SL  Okay.  [coughing] sorry

AM  I can't really, I can't really remember these things like I used to but... I'm trying to think... I don' know.

SL  So, none of your family had ever lived in Roswell.

AM  Not my, uhh... what we talking about?

GB  Not your immediate family?

AM  Uh huh.

GB  You were the only one that was in Roswell?

AM  Of my immediate family?

GB  Yeah.

AM  Except my sister... she was... she didn't ever live in Roswell.  She, when she left, she left to come to Atlanta with some white... with de white people she were working for an she was going to come back home 'cause she didn't know anybody up here and they got me a job with some friends of theirs up there and I come to Atlanta.

GB  Um hmm...

AM  So I didn't...

GB  So then you moved to Roswell she decided she wasn't coming' to Roswell with you?

AM  Huh?

GB  Your sister decided she wasn't going to come to Roswell with you?

AM  My sister?

GB  Uh huh.  When you moved to Roswell... didn't nobody come to Roswell in your immediate family but you?

AM  My dad lived at Roswell.  He had moved up right where he wasn't no .... cedar pond.... out in the country.

GB  So your daddy used to almost live in Roswell?

AM  Uh huh.

GB  Aww... okay.  Before he died?

AM  Uh huh.

GB  He farmed up here too?

AM  Hmm?

GB  He farmed up here too?

AM  Unh uh, he wasn't able to farm then.

GB  Oh, okay... okay.  You know about where he lived?  What street y'all lived on, he lived on?

AM  Yeah, I can carry you to the house... I reckon the house is still there.  When you leave Roswell going' to Alabama there was a house setting as you went up the hill there was a house setting over there and that's where we lived.

GB  Okay but that going' down like toward the river?

AM  Huh?

GB  Is that going' like down toward the river, down toward the Chattahoochee?

AM  It's across the river.

GB  cross the river?

AM  And uh, and here... and it was, I guess the house still there sitting on that side, on this side of the street.

GB  On the right hand side of the street.  Oh okay.

AM  Kind of out front of the street like.

SL  What about your brothers?  Where did they go?  Your brothers.

AM  I don't have any they all gone.

SL  No, when they were still young, when you had first come to Georgia where had your brothers gone?  Did they all stay in Alabama?

AM  Honey, honey I come to Georgia... I had one brother he lived in Birmingham, Alabama and the others was gone.

GB  What did they go to?  

AM  Huh?

GB  They had passed?

AM  Yeah.

GB  All of 'them stayed in Alabaman until they had passed?

SL  What kind of foods did you, uh, grow on your farm?

AM  Huh?

SL  What kind of foods did you and your dad grow on your farm?

AM  What kind of food?

SL  Um hmm...

AM  Honey, don't ask me.  [laughs] 'Cause we had all kind of...[silence 6 sec]

SL  What were some of your favorite foods?

AM  I don' know.  [silence]

GB  Yaw have corn, potatoes, watermelons?

AM  All that.  

GB  All that, okay.

AM  All that.  I remember my sister and I used to go in the watermelon patch and eat us a watermelon and go down in the woods and bust it then eat it [laughs]

GB  So you wouldn't have no evidence huh?

SL  I see...

AM  But we could not of fooled our daddy... he could read our mind.

GB  Um hmm... so did y'all get whoopings because you busted those watermelons.  Oh, okay.

SL  Did you do any farming when you came here?

AM  Huh?

SL  Did you do any farming when you came to Georgia?

AM  I don't think so.

SL  So you met your husband here in Georgia too then?  Here in Roswell?

AM  It's like I tell you... I can' remember like I used to 'cause I've had a stroke... and... a little life stroke and I can' remember like I used to and I'm trying to remember... I don' know.

SL  Umm... you said you belonged to the same church since you came to Roswell.  How important has the church been to you?

AM  Huh?

SL  How important has your church been to you since, you said you've belonged to that church since you've been here.  How important has it been?  How important has your church been to you.

AM  Honey... I can' tell... I can'...

SL  Do you do a lot of stuff in your church?

AM  I can't...[silence]

GB  What did you do at church now?

AM  Huh?

GB  What did you used to do at the church?

AM  That's what I'm trying to think, I tell you I can't think.

GB  Okay were you a usher before?

AM  Yeah.

GB  On the mission board?

AM  Yeah.

GB  Uhh.... what board you on now?

AM  Huh?

GB  What, what board are you on now, mother's board?

AM  Yeah.

GB  The golden voices?  The golden voices?

AM  Yeah.

GB  So what do... tell her what the golden voices do, she might not know.

AM  Tell her what the golden voices do?

GB  Uh huh.

AM  We sings.

GB  Oh, okay.  You tell her you one of the lead singers?

AM  Shut up...

SL  You are?  You're one of the lead singers.  Oh my goodness, I have a singer here.

AM  Huh?

SL  Oh my goodness....

AM  Unh uh... I, I try to sing.

SL  Oh, I need a song.

GB  Sing us a song

SL  I need a song.

GB  Sing us a song, a little short one.

AM  Do what?

GB/SL  Sing us a song.

SL  I need a song.

GB  Show her your stuff, show her how you can sing.

SL  Oh... I need a song.

AM  Shut up Gail.

SL  I need a song.  I got to make sure this thing's working.  Oh yeah.  Give me a song.

AM  I can't think.

SL  Give me a song.

AM  I'm trying to think... I can't think...  As I lay my burden down, I'm going to lay with Jesus... I can't get 'them together.  Don't look at me like that, that's right.  [laughs]...

GB  You better get ready, y'all have rehearsal tomorrow.

AM  Huh?

GB  I said y'all have choir rehearsal tomorrow and I know you going to have a song then.

AM  Yes ma'am.

GB  So go ahead and give us a song.  How about "Shine on Me?"

AM  My voice ain't too good.

GB  Oh, it sound pretty good to me.

AM  Huh?

GB  It sound pretty good to me.  Uhh... glory glory hallelujah, since I lay my burdens down...

AM  I feel betters.  I ain't supposed sang to y'all.

GB  Yes you are.

AM  No I'm not.

SL  We're... we need a little uplifting sometimes and stuff.  We have to be reminded.  We're the younger generation, you have to guide us, you know?  It's true.  It's true. [ silence 15 sec] 

AM  I can't sing.

SL  Oh yes you can.

GB  How about a, how about "I don't feel no ways tower?"

SL  You were amazing...

AM  You going to help me?

GB  Oh yeah, I gotcha.  Go ahead, you start I gotcha.

AM  What?

GB  I said you start it I catch up.

AM  [singing] I don' feel that way... let me get it together... I don't feel... I don't feel no way... you may think I'm joking' but I can't get that together.

GB  Okay, how about uh... "Soon I will be done with the troubles of this world?"

AM  What?

GB  "Soon I will be done with the troubles of this world."  You remember that one?

SL  You have to know "Amazing Grace" don't you?

AM  [laughs] I don't feel no ways...

GB  How about "This little light of mine?"  You know that one don't you.  This little light of mine... I'm going to let it shine...

AM  Go ahead.

SL  No, you're singing, don't try to play that trick.

GB  Um hmm... come on.

AM  How come you you didn't warn me all a this.

GB  Oh I ain't warn you... you always got a song... what you be singing' around the house?

AM  You ain't heard me, no...

GB  Yes I have, I come to that door and heard you singing'.

AM  Um hmm. [silence 6.5 sec]

GB  Okay, we'll come back to the song then.

AM  Huh?

GB  We'll come back to the song.  You'll be... you'll done thought of one by then.

SL  You just had one in your head.  You just had a song in your head.  I saw you.  You had a song in your head, you going... just like that. Your keeping' it hidden from us.  I don't think that's right though.  Alright, as I recall it says everything that has breath praise the lord.  If you got a song you got to let it out, got to let it go, set it free.  Somehow you just keeping' it bottled up inside of you.  You know, I don't get it.

AM  We got to go home.

[laughter from all]

GB  Now that was cute.

SL  Uh uh... alright, alright... umm... there are a lot of historic buildings and a lot of historic events around here.  Do, do they have, do they mean anything to you, do you know much about the historic buildings that they have around here in Roswell.

AM  Oh lord, I can't think. [silence 14 sec]

SL  Do you ever visit any of 'them?

AM  Huh?

SL  Like Bulik Hall or any of that, do you ever visit any of those building?

AM  Do I ever visit what?

SL  Any of those historic buildings, like Bulik Hall or anything.  Do you ever go to any of those buildings?

AM  Let me see... I tell you I can't remember.  I, is I... I know I've been in some... one or two but I can't trying to remember which ones?

GB  Uh you've probably been in Bulik Hall and you've probably been in Smith Plantation.

AM  Been where?

GB  In the Smith Plantation 'cause y'all used to go meet there when uh... Miss Mamie was living.  You remember y'all used to go to club meetings there... at the Smith Plantation, remember Miss Mamie D(PI)... when she was in de club.

AM  When who?

GB  Miss Mamie D(PI).

AM  Yeah I remember she...

GB  Y'all used to go over her house when she lived at the Smith Plantation for your club meetings.

SL  Did you uh... at the time that you came here, do you remember anything about the uh... mill.

AM  About the what?

SL  The mill.  The cotton... wasn't it cotton mill.

GB  Um hmm... the Roswell mill.

SL The Roswell mill.

AM  I just know it was there, I never been in it.

SL  Did you know anybody who worked there?

AM  Yeah, I know some people worked there, but I never did go up there.

SL  Did you know anything about what went on there?

AM  Y'all might think I'm joking but...

GB  But I can't remember...

AM  Huh?

GB  But you can't remember?

AM  I'm trying to think...

SL  See we think there was something fishy that was going' on there.  Have you heard anything about anything funny that might have been going on at the mill?

AM  When I get home I can think all of it, but right now I can't.[laughs]

SL  What do you remember then about what it was like being in Roswell in the '40s and the '50s as a black person... trying to shop here or trying to get, go out and get some food to eat for lunch, or... what was it like trying to do those, just what seemed to be like regular things to do, but what was it like in the '40s and the '50s trying to do that as a black person in Roswell.

AM  You know I don't know half she said.  [laughter] now that's the truth. I... I..

GB  She's not from Georgia, she's from Texas...

AM  Huh?

GB  She's from Texas so that's probably it.

SL  That's not what it is, that's not it.  Do you... what was it like when you first got here in terms of dealing with white people since you were black?  Was it different somehow for you coming from Alabama or was it about the same?

AM  Unh uh... it's about the same cause... you see when I come, come from Alabama I came with some white people.

SL  Um hmm...  So what was, so was it...

AM  My sister who was working' for some... and uh... they came to Georgia and she was, she come with them but she told 'them she going' back home 'cause she didn't know nobody up here and so they got me a job up here and when they got me this job up here and I come up here to start to working' we both... where did we start going to church?  We start going to church... umm... now I can't think of the name but the church is there in Roswell, but anyway we started going to church.  I joined church there but she never did... she didn't join a church in Roswell.

SL  Did you, were there any problems, uhh, in terms of... were there any problems with getting along then with any of the people in Roswell?

AM  Was there any problems?

SL  Did you have any problems getting along with any of the people in Roswell?

AM  Unh uh, no I tell you truth.  I always thought the peoples in Roswell was nice to me.

SL  Um hmm...  Were there, were there as many black people living in Roswell as there had been living in Opelika?

AM  I... I really don't know 'cause just like I told I lived down in Opelika but we was out in the country.

SL  Um hmm...

AM  And I don' know of too much about the black people.  There was some there I know, but I don't know too much about 'them.  I didn't know too much about 'them.  That's the way I see it.  I didn't know too much about 'them.  But everybody seemed to be friendly, kind... 

SL  So you were comfortable living here.

AM  Oh yeah, I've never... everywhere I... well I never lived nowhere but two places but everybody I met was nice, friendly, 'cause I tried to be nice, friendly to them.  All except her.  [laughs]

SL  Did you uh... ever have problems, like uh, when you went to, say, when you wanted to go and eat lunch, could you eat lunch the same places that the white people could eat lunch?

AM  I can never... I don' remember going in places for lunch...

SL  Could the black, could black people eat in the same places that white people could eat?

AM  Huh?

SL  Could black people eat in the same places that white people could eat?

AM  Yeah... the white peoples I 's with, they treated me just as nice as they could, and the peoples my sister was with, they were nice to her too... so I, I never had any problems... I'm trying to think.  I don't think I've ever had any problems with the white peoples at all.

SL  So you could shop at the same places in town, in Roswell, as white people could and...

AM  Everybody was nice, that's all I can say... I don't remember having... no problem 'bout shopping or nothing.  I've heard people say they had a problem but I didn’t'.

SL  Um hmm... and you had... healthcare was fine, you could get doctors when you needed to get a doctor to treat you, or when you needed to get to a hospital, you could get to the hospital, there wasn't a problem because you were black?

AM  When I got sick?

GB  Yeah.

AM  Unh uh, I ain't had no problem.

GB  So where did you go to the doctor at when you lived in Roswell.

AM  I went...

GB  You remember the doctor?

AM  Yeah I remember, I went to doctor... I didn't have any problem whatsoever.

GB  Okay, when you went to the hospital, if you, if you had to go to the hospital in an ambulance, how did the black people get to the hospital?

AM  Black people?

GB  Uh huh... do you remember?

AM  Unh uh... I don't remember nobody, nobody having any problem getting to the hospital.

GB  Okay, did they have a black ambulance back then?  So, how would you get to the hospital, you in a car?

AM  That's how I got there, in a car.

GB  Okay, when you all went out to eat, could you go in the, in the, in the restaurants and eat in the front or did you have to go to the back of the restaurant or you couldn't come in... or did you all go eat out much?

AM  Unh uh...

GB  You cooked all the time?

AM  Huh?

GB  You cooked all the time?

AM  Yeah... I ain't ever had no problems... with no white people... I'm... I worked... everywhere I worked, this is the truth, they was nice.

GB  Um hmm...

SL  Okay...  Have you, uh... what are some of the differences that you notice between Roswell and Atlanta, since you've lived in both of them?  What are some of the differences?

AM  Difference n Roswell an Atlanta?

SL  Um hmm...

AM  I don' know different... no more than I know... I was trying to think which one was the largest... I believe... at that time Atlanta was the largest, it was.

SL  Have you been to Atlanta lately?

AM  Huh?

SL  Have you been to Atlanta lately?

GB  So you probably have but you don' remember?

AM  I can't think right now, I tell you the truth.  I can't think like I used to.

GB  Uh huh...

SL  Has, has Roswell changed to you since, since when you first got here?  You think its... has it changed at all?  Has Roswell changed?

AM  It's growed.  I, I know that.  It has growed.  When I first came to Roswell it was small.

SL  Um hmm... 

AM  Who was that?

SL  Now it's not so small?

AM  Oh Joy [laughs] yeah.

SL  Does it, does... so do you still think it's a comfortable place, so does, even though it's grown do you think it's still a comfortable place?

AM  That do what?

SL  You said you thought Roswell had gotten, had gotten bigger?

AM  Yeah, it's really has growed since I've been in Roswell.

SL  Um hmm... has that made the city feel different to you, is it different somehow because it's bigger?  Are the people different, is the town...

AM  They friendly, to me.   I don't have, I never have had any problems in Roswell.

SL  So even...

AM  What you going to do with the camera.

LG  Take my picture.

AM  You ain't going to take mine.  [laughs] I don't like taking pictures.

GB  He's not going to take it.

AM  I... he getting somewhere over yonder.

SL  What changes besides, besides it being bigger have you seen in Roswell?

AM  What changes?

SL  What other changes?  You said you thought it's gotten bigger, have you noticed any other differences?

AM  No.

SL  No?  Umm... do you think there are people who are like real Roswellians, you know people who are really part of Roswell and then all these new people who are coming in, they're not really part of Roswell?  Do you think of them like that?

AM  Unh uh, I don't know no difference.

SL  You think they're all just a part of Roswell.

AM  No, just join it and be friendly, nice.

GB  Do you feel like you're a Roswellian?

AM  Huh?

GB  Do you feel like you're a Roswellian even though you were not born in Roswell?

AM  Yeah, I've been here so long I've...[laughs]

SL  So you call this home now.

AM  Yeah... um hmm...

SL  Okay, uhh... how long do you think you have to be in Roswell, you have to live in Roswell before you can say Roswell is your home?

AM  I don't know.  I hadn't even give that a thought.

SL  mmm-hmmm... I guess I'm thinking of that because of all the new people that are coming in... you know and then... you know like you're church that you go to, you have a lot of new people who aren't from Roswell, you know but they've just moved here, or they've only been here say maybe three years, or maybe five years, you know.. would you call those people Roswellians?

AM  I don't know.  But, as far as me I never had no problems.  Good night folk.

SL  Umm... you ready for that song now?

AM  Unh uh... Gail lead us in a song.

GB  You know I don't sing.

AM  Well what are you doing in the choir?

GB  I'm not in the choir.

AM  You done got out?

GB  Um hmm... 'cause I couldn't sing... they put me out.

AM  I'm going to check on that.

GB  Check on that... they put me out 'cause I couldn't sing.

AM  They didn’t' put you out, you got out.

GB  Unh uh, they put me out.  See I don't have a good voice like you.

AM  I don't either.

GB  Yes you do.  You led a song out, last before Sunday.

AM  Me?

GB  Unh huh, you.

AM  What did I sing?

GB  I don't know, I want to say "I got good religion certainly lord."

AM  What?

GB  "Have you got good religion?"  You remember that song?

AM  I don't remember leading' it.

GB  Well, I think I do.

SL  Who's memory we going to trust?

AM  Huh?  What did you say?

[laughter]

GB  'Cause I know, I know you been singing'.  And when we get in the car you'll think all kind of songs to sing.

AM  You lead one, I'll lead one.

GB  Oh, now you know I don't lead now.

AM  Yeah.

GB  Oh no, not me.

AM  I got to go home.

GB  You got to go home?  Why?

SL  Before you go though...

AM  I'm getting' hungry.

GB  Oh, okay.

SL  Before you go though you have to, I want you to tell me a...

AM  Huh?

SL  Before you go home I want you to tell me a story... a family story or something about Roswell or history, local history here.

AM  I don't know that much about it.

SL  Tell me one of your favorite memories about living here.  He not going to leave you.

AM  No whispering' around here, but I look.

SL  Tell him one of your favorite memories.

AM  One of my favorite what?

SL  Memories.

AM  Members?

SL  Memories.

AM  Memories... uhh... I don' know... you just want me to put something on that paper anyhow.

SL  You don't have to, there's nothing you have to put on here.

AM  [laughs]

SL  I see how you're already doing me about the song.  You don't want to bless me today.  But that's okay... even though I could use a blessing.

AM  I don't have to do what?

SL  I said you, you're trying to deny me a blessing.  You don't want to bless me today.  God gave you a gift and you don't want to share it with me.  That's the way I see it.

AM  If I could really sing I wouldn't mind it, but...

SL  You're just being humble.

AM  huh?

SL  You're just being humble.

AM  I... don't see it... I'm trying to get me one...[silence 19 sec]

SL  Alright, tell me, just tell me a favorite memory of yours then.

AM  A what?

SL  Favorite memory.  Something that you, that you think about sometimes that you, that's...

AM  Well, I remember when I was growing' up... my dad used to... he was I don't know what, why... but I 'member he was crippled and he would always, when we got home from work, he would have to lay down.  And how he used to talk to us.  He always would give us a lecture every night bout trying' to do right, live right.  And I can't explain all what he would say, but I do remember it.  I guess you'd wonder why I don't says nothing about my mother, but I was so young I don' remember too much about her.

SL  Um hmm, but you have a lot of good memories about your dad.

AM  Hmm?

SL  You have a lot of good memories about your dad.

AM  Um hmm... yeah I sure do.

SL  That's good... alright.  Oh, is there something that you would like future generations of Roswellians to remember, is there something, a key, key moment here or something that you want, you want to tell future generations of uh young people in Roswell to remember?

AM  All I can say I have good remembrance of Roswell since I was living here I've been happy.  I don' know why when I go to tell something it leaves me. [laughs]

SL  Um hmmm... okay, alright Mrs. D(PI).